“For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:2-5
Imagine the anticipation of the people of God waiting for their Messiah to come rescue them. They were made captives by their enemies and faced persecution. Generations before them were enslaved and made poor choices and now they’re dealing with the repercussions.
And then Isaiah the prophet comes and gives this word from the Lord.
He begins to prophesy of the coming Messiah. How He will come in a way no one expected. A way that did not match His full majesty and glory.
The people waited in anticipation of a King coming to rule and reign in power and vengeance. However, they were so caught up in this idea of power and reign, they were blinded from seeing that this was truly the King they were waiting for.
This King who would actually come as a helpless baby whose will was to die for all mankind.
He didn’t come in the way He deserved, but chose to leave His royalty for the one’s His Father loved.
He would come not to reign in full power, but as a willing atonement for the sins of the world.
For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). A sacrifice had to be made to atone the sins of man. A debt had to be paid. Time and time again in history, the people of God would sacrifice the purest and unblemished lamb.
But now it was time for the Perfect Lamb to pay the complete debt.
He would come as a man who would humble Himself as the rightful King and become like you and me. (John 1:14) He chose to identify with us because He loves us. He would face praise and rejection, abandonment, temptation, and the weight of the world on His shoulders. He identified with the image bearers God created. (Philippians 2:5-9)
This is the good news. This is the Gospel.
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
And by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:4-5
Who could this be? Who is this Messiah the Lord would send for His people?
This Messiah is the Son of God.
This Messiah is the Savior of the World.
This Messiah is Jesus Christ.
Jesus would redeem everything by stepping in as the perfect sacrifice.
Why? Why would God send His Son as a sacrifice for His people? For us? For you?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Let me say it again….
For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His begotten son.
This is LOVE.
Sin had separated us from having a relationship with the Father. There is nothing we could do to fulfill what was broken. There was/is no one worthy to fulfill the full wrath of God because God cannot partner with darkness. God must rightfully judge the wages of sin, but in HIS LOVE for us He gave us His beloved so we could be His beloved.
And still, God saw it as good to sacrifice His beloved Son. It was in His will for Him to take the weight of it all.
“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
And cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made
An offering to sin,
He will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
And the Lord’s good plan will
Prosper in his hands. Isaiah 53:10
And this prophecy came into fruition when Jesus came to this earth and fulfilled what God had promised to His people in the time of Isaiah.
This is good news. This is the Gospel. This is our Lord.
The Messiah didn’t just come to die for the ones He loved, He died for His enemies too.
The one who would deny Him, the one who would wrongfully accuse Him, the one who would witness signs and wonders yet reject His truth. (I recommend reading the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 because it reminds us of the reality of what Jesus spiritually and physically took on for God’s creation.)
Jesus came for us. Why? Because of His love for US.
“In this the love of God sent his one and only son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” 1 John 4:9
His love is there ready for us to receive.
You may say, “But we are not worthy.”
Yes, we must recognize that there is nothing we can do that could pay for our sins or the mistakes we have made. God is Holy and He cannot partner with darkness, but because of Jesus, because of the Love of the Father for His image bearers, He could not bear to live apart from us.
He gave up everything so we could have the ONLY thing - HIM.
That’s not the end of the story. He had to die so we could also live in HIM.
Death could not hold him down. Sin could no longer separate us from the love of the Father. Jesus resurrects from the grave and reigns in victory.
His love was stronger than death and now we have new life in Him.
And because of this sacrifice of Jesus Christ, when we receive His gift of new life and repent and run to the Father, we are seen worthy in the sight of our Lord.
He has always seen you. He always desired to be with us. He has made the first step, now it's our turn to receive it.
We don't need to complicate the Gospel.
Let us bring life back to John 3:16 and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
Jesus came to save the world because of the Father’s love for us.
~ Sarah Sendejas